Collaborative care model improves self-care ability, quality of life and cardiac function of patients with chronic heart failure.

Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a common chronic disease that requires much care. This study aimed to explore the effects of collaborative care model (CCM) on patients with CHF. A total of 114 CHF patients were enrolled in this study, and were randomly and equally divided into two groups: control and experimental. Patients in the two groups received either usual care or CCM for 3 continuous months. The impacts of CCM on the self-care ability and quality of life were assessed using self-care of heart failure index and short form health survey 12, respectively. Further, cardiac function was assessed by measuring left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and the level of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), and by the 6-min walking test. Clinical and demographic characteristics of patients in the control and CCM groups were statistically equivalent. Compared with usual care, CCM significantly enhanced self-care abilities of patients with CHF, including self-care maintenance, self-care management and self-care confidence (all P<0.05). The physical and mental quality of life was also significantly improved by CCM (P<0.01 or P<0.05). Compared with usual care, CCM significantly increased the LVEF (P<0.01), decreased the NT-proBNP level (P<0.01), and enhanced exercise capacity (P<0.001). In conclusion, CCM improved the self-care, quality of life and cardiac function of patients with CHF compared with usual care.

Transcriptome analysis of potential simple sequence repeat markers in Ammopiptanthus mongolicus.

Ammopiptanthus mongolicus, an evergreen broadleaf legume shrub, can survive under conditions of high and low temperature, extreme salinity, and drought. This attribute makes it an ideal model for studying mechanisms of stress tolerance in plants. However, simple sequence repeat (SSR) resources for this species are insufficient in public databases. In this study, a total of 44,959 unigenes identified from the A. mongolicus transcriptome were used for SSR analysis by MIcroSAtellite (MISA). A total of 13,859 SSRs were found to be distributed within 10,409 unigenes, with an average length of 15 bp and an average density of one SSR per 4.4 kb. There were 222 different motif types in the A. mongolicus transcriptome, and mononucleotide repeats represented the main type, accounting for 44.2% of all SSRs. The (A/T)n repeat was the most frequent motif, accounting for 42.37% of all SSRs. We also performed Gene Ontology functional analysis, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database pathway analysis, and eggNOG analysis, and identified 6157, 2301, and 9845 unigenes containing SSRs in these three databases, respectively. The functional categorization of A. mongolicus unigenes containing SSRs revealed that these unigenes represent many transcribed genes with different functions. These data provide sequence information that may be used to improve molecular-assisted markers for the study A. mongolicus genetic diversity.

Transcriptome analysis of Arabidopsis seedlings responses to high concentrations of glucose.

Sugars acting as fuel energy or as signaling molecules play important roles in plant growth and development. Although sugars associated with early seedling development have been analyzed in detail, few studies have examined the effect of sugar on genome-wide gene transcription. To analyze the role of glucose on the genomic level, we examined the response of seedlings to 5% glucose using RNA-seq technology. High concentrations of glucose significately altered the expression of 863 genes, with 558 upregulated and 305 downregulated genes by more than 2-fold. A large number of genes affected by glucose were involved in metabolic processes and signaling. Transcript levels for many kinases and calcium signals were downregulated. Most transcription factors identified were also involved in glucose signaling. Moreover, many genes related to the auxin, gibberellin, and abscisic acid responses were upregulated or downregulated. Additionally, the K(+), Ca(2+), SO3(-), NO3(-), PO4(3-), amino acid, and sugar transporters were also upregulated or downregulated. These results provide a basic understanding of the glucose-mediated molecular mechanisms in the regulation of early seedling development.